Feizal Samath

LABOUR-SRI LANKA: Domestic Workers Promised New Deal in Kuwait

Will a new agreement between licensed labour recruiters in Sri Lanka and Kuwait protect the rights of domestic workers who face serious abuse in the Gulf state?

SRI LANKA: Turning to China, Iran for Funds

By Feizal Samath

Sri Lanka’s government, under pressure over human rights violations, is abandoning support from traditional but rights-sensitive partners like the United States and Europe and turning to countries like China and Iran to finance its infrastructure projects.

SRI LANKA: Beating Grain Prices With Home Grown Rice

By Feizal Samath

Drastically lowered wheat consumption in this island country - once running close to that of the domestically grown staple rice - has been welcomed by food security experts as the only way to beat the current rise in global grain prices.

RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: War May See EU Duty Concessions Cut

By Feizal Samath

Sri Lanka’s garment industry is worried that the duty free access it enjoys to European markets will soon be cut as a result of alleged human rights violations related to the government’s pursuit of a military solution to a long-standing ethnic conflict.

SRI LANKA: NGO Scam Spotlights Cozy Funding Deals

By Feizal Samath

An internal feud at Sri Lanka's best known non-governmental organisation (NGO), over alleged mismanagement and financial irregularities, has snowballed into wider issues of lack of transparency, corruption and cozy relationships between funding agencies and recipients.

HEALTH-SRI LANKA: Stick to Generic Names or Face Jail Doctors Told

By Feizal Samath

Sri Lankan doctors and patients’ rights groups have rarely seen eye-to-eye on the global debate over costly branded drugs against cheap generics, but they are coming together against a new rule that requires doctors to use only generic names on their prescriptions - or face jail.

ECONOMY-SRI LANKA: ‘Norwegian Truce Provided Window of Prosperity’

By Feizal Samath

While the Norway-brokered ceasefire between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil separatist militants finally failed, last week, it did provide a six-year window of prosperity to this island nation torn by a festering ethnic conflict.

Labelling helps fetch cinnamon farmers far better prices for their produce Credit: J. Weerasekera

SRI LANKA: Fair Trade Labels Ensure Returns For Farmers

By Feizal Samath

Organic farmers in this hilly, central region of Sri Lanka are convinced that they have a simple fair trade model that could be replicated in other parts of the world.

LABOUR-SRI LANKA: Inflation Wears Garment Industry Thin

By Feizal Samath

Thousands of garment workers, mostly young women from rural Sri Lanka, are clamouring for better wages in a campaign that could trigger a mass fallout in the industry, and a possible shift in production to other countries where costs are cheaper.

This BPO team deep in the backwoods of Sri Lanka competes with city firms for global custom Credit: Feizal Samath/IPS

TECHNOLOGY-SRI LANKA: Leapfrogging Out of Poverty on IT

By Feizal Samath

In a north-central village, deep inside Sri Lanka’s backwoods, a young man is glued to a computer screen, pushing a mouse and filling in figures.

Building shelters for the displaced is a major activity in Sri Lanka Credit: Norwegian Refugee Council

RIGHTS-SRI LANKA: Tamils Traumatised by War, Tsunami – Study

By Feizal Samath

Residents of war-wracked Jaffna city in northern Sri Lanka are a community on the run; every family has a bag packed with essentials, ready to flee at a moment's notice, a new research study reports.

SRI LANKA: Women Battered Despite Domestic Violence Law

By Feizal Samath

Sri Lankan women battered by their spouses have been seeking refuge in a law enacted two years ago to tackle domestic violence, but activists say they need far closer protection.

Aerial View of Colombo&#39s Polluted Beira Lake Credit: J. Weerasekara

ENVIRONMENT-SRI LANKA: In Denial Mode on Sanitation Issues

By Feizal Samath

Compared to the rest of South Asia, Sri Lanka has impressive sanitation statistics with 90 percent of the population having access to latrines. But what happens to human waste thereafter is another story.

Coastal Residents Flee Inland on Tsunami Alert Credit: M.A. Pushpakumara

ENVIRONMENT-SRI LANKA: Tsunami Alert Systems Working – Too Well

By Feizal Samath

A tsunami alert, last week, sent thousands of Sri Lankans living along the coasts of this island nation fleeing inland, but authorities were exultant that the early warning systems installed after the disastrous Dec. 26, 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami were working.

LABOUR-SRI LANKA: Trade Unions Fail To Keep Workers Happy

By Feizal Samath

Sri Lanka's job market is getting more informal but trade unions have lost sight of globalisation-triggered changes where workers scurry to do two or more jobs at a time.

TRADE-SRI LANKA: Tea, Garments Win Buyer Approval for Labour Practices

By Feizal Samath

Sri Lanka is regularly hauled up by western donors for its dismal human rights record, but its biggest exports, tea and garments, are gaining global recognition for ensuring workers' rights and welfare.

DEATH PENALTY-SAUDI ARABIA: Legal Aid for Maid – After Close Shave With Sword

By Feizal Samath

The dramatic reprieve for a condemned Sri Lankan housemaid won by lawyers, beating a Jul. 16 deadline for filing an appeal in the Saudi Arabian courts, has focused the international spotlight on a closed justice system which condemns people to death without legal representation at their trials.